Ike senior selected for weeklong nuclear physics program at University of Notre Dame

A Utica Community Schools senior was among 20 U.S. students selected to take part in a weeklong study program on nuclear physics as the University of Notre Dame.

Eisenhower High School senior Stephen Ogden attended the Physics of Atomic Nuclei (PAN) June 22 to 26 at the South Bend campus.

The program allowed students to learn from nationally-renowned physicists, work with state of the art research tools, and experience life at a prestigious university.

“I wish the program lasted more than a week,” said Ogden, who also attends the Utica Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology. “It was a great opportunity to use the tools of particle physics to answer questions about the world around us.”

Among the activities, participants:

-Measured the speed of light,

-Demonstrated the Compton Effect (showing that light exhibits particle characteristics),

-Measured metal alloys using gamma spectroscopy,

-Predicted the thickness of foil based on its ability to slow alpha particle radiation; and,

-Measured the alloy content of metal using x-ray fluorescence.

Ogden said even the evening social activities were a lesson on physics, such as a social where the ice cream is frozen with Liquid Nitrogen.

PAN is an outreach program at two world leading nuclear physics laboratories: Nuclear Science Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.

It is run by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics - Center for the Evolution of the Elements (JINA-CEE) funded by the National Science Foundation.